Living with chronic pain
We know that chronic pain is stressful: typically our bodies
respond to stress with a fight / flight / freeze response and we
have raised levels of stress hormones in our blood. These stress
hormones have a range of effects on us including making it harder
for us to sleep, and may lead us to want to withdraw to a place of
safety such as the bedroom. One aspect of pain management is to try
to find techniques or strategies that are helpful in relaxing
you.
We know that the sensation of pain may not be an accurate
reflection of the degree of tissue damage. Some people for example
have pain in limbs that have been removed (this is called 'phantom
limb pain'), because although the pain feels as if it is in the
limb it is really in our brain (central nervous system). We also
know it is important to keep active, to find a baseline of activity
you can do on good and bad days otherwise you may find yourself
doing less and less over time. It's important that you understand
your pain condition to reassure yourself that movement really is
safe for your body so please ask your healthcare team any questions
you may have, and then set yourself a small exercise goal. As the
pain sensation you get is not a good guide about how much to
exercise to do it is good to increase your exercise very gradually
- aim to start by establishing a baseline of exercise and activity
that you can do even when you are having a bad day.
Our thoughts can influence our mood so it can sometimes be
helpful to notice those thoughts and reflect upon them, as pain can
make us perceive situations in a negative light. For some people a
chance to reflect upon their experience with a pain psychologist
can help them find strategies to get their life back on track. It
may also be helpful to share your experience of living with chronic
pain with other people: knowing that you are not alone, and hearing
how other people manage certain situations with chronic pain can
often be useful for sufferers. Certainly, ongoing pain tends to
make people feel low and withdraw from social situations so a part
of ongoing pain management is to get back to doing more fun and
social things - what did you enjoy doing, and how can we help you
get back to that?
An animated video from Australia (Brainman)
gives an excellent five-minute overview of chronic pain and some of
its issues, and here is a UK animation about chronic pain
management.
